Page 115 of Theirs to Take

Evan couldn’t help his laugh, “Yet you’re living in your boss’s spare room,” he teased.

She smiled and slapped his arm. “Go ahead, make fun, but my boss was the one who insisted that I come here to stay with him.” She was right, and he’d do it all over again. She wasn’t going to be safe staying at her friend Mina’s apartment across the hall from her own.

“I’ll get to my workout then,” Evan said. “If the boss is coming over, I should at least do the dishes and straighten up a bit.”

“I can do that,” Carrie offered.

“You don’t need to clean my place,” he insisted.

“It’s the least that I can do to repay your kindness,” she offered. “You go work out and leave the rest to me.”

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“I am,” she insisted. “I’ll let you know what Alex says.”

“Deal,” he agreed, “thanks, Carrie.” Evan wasn’t sure if telling Alex and Rod about her ex was the best idea, but he knew that they’d find out sooner or later and there was no way that he wanted to keep a secret from either of them. He was new to their company, and he didn’t want to fuck things up with them before he proved himself to them.

Carrie

She was stalling, and that was going to be a problem if she didn’t get herself together and just call Alex. She needed to tell him what was going on in case Alastair showed up at McTavish to cause trouble. She had showered, eaten breakfast, cleaned Evan’s kitchen, and tidied up a bit. Now, she was out of excuses and holding the cell phone in her hand that Evan had let her borrow to call Alex. It was now or never.

Carrie found Alex’s contact information on the phone and called his number. “Evan,” Alex answered after the first ring.

“No, it’s Carrie,” she breathed.

“Is Evan all right?” Alex asked.

“Oh, yeah,” she said. “He let me use his cell phone because mine is damaged. It’s a long story and one that I think I need to share with you and Rod, but I don’t want to do it at the office.”

“We can come over to your apartment on our way into the office if you want,” he offered.

“Um, I’m not at my apartment. It’s not safe. I stayed the night at Evan’s place,” she admitted. None of this was coming out the way that she planned it. She was messing everything up.

“You did what?” Alex asked. “Please tell me that you didn’t sleep with your boss after the first day, Carrie.” It hurt that he’d even think of accusing her of such a thing.

“You’re an ass, Alex,” she spat. “I didn’t sleep with my boss. He was kind enough to offer his spare room to me since my ex followed me from Scotland and is causing trouble. That’s what I need to talk to you about, but you’ve already made up your mind about me.”

She was about to end the call when Alex, shouted at her to, “Wait.”

“What more could you have to say to me?” she hissed.

“I’m sorry,” he breathed.

“You should be,” she insisted.

“Listen, can we start over? How about if I get Rod and we head over to Evan’s house? You can fill us in on what’s going on and we’ll go from there,” Alex offered.

Carrie let out a pent-up breath that she didn’t know she was holding. “Fine,” she agreed. “I appreciate you being willing to stop by. I’d rather keep this private.”

“Understood,” Alex agreed. “We’ll be there within the hour.”

“Thank you,” she said, ending the call.

She turned and walked right into a brick wall of half-naked man. Evan wrapped his arms around her, to steady her, and she put her hands on his chest, trying her best not to run them all over his rock-hard pecks.

“You worked out,” she whispered more to herself than to him.

“I did,” he agreed. “I’m done now. I heard part of your call—sorry to eavesdrop. I take it the call didn’t go well.”

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